sholtobros Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I'm a new member here and wanted post some 'before' pictures of my current table project. Some pieces (rails) are milled and ready for joinery where the top is only partially milled. The major rough operation left is to re-saw/plane the 8/4 x10" board to hopefully something close to 7/8 thick for each piece. I'm kind of questioning if this is the best use for that 8/4 piece since there will be more sap wood than I wanted on one half. So it's not really going to be bookmatched top but at least the grain should be nicely balanced in the center. The next step is cutting the leg mortises/rail tenons and then leg taper. Once the weather improves I'll finish milling the top. Right now my only dust collection strategy for the planer is a dust mask, open garage door and fan. Pictures don't have much going on yet but it's a start. The 3rd one shows (not clearly) the plan I drafted out with an analog pointing device that never needed to be rebooted, just sharpened a few times... Woodworking is an anti computer activity as much as possible for me right now. -Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 The major rough operation left is to re-saw/plane the 8/4 x10" board to hopefully something close to 7/8 thick for each piece. Pictures don't have much going on yet but it's a start. The 3rd one shows (not clearly) the plan I drafted out with an analog pointing device that never needed to be rebooted, just sharpened a few times... -Scott Thanks for posting the before pics. I kind of hate to see you take 8/4 stock all the way down the 7/8. I would suggest taking it down to 6/4 because I think the look of a thicker top is more appealing. Just my .02 cents. Good luck and keep the pictures coming! James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Thanks for posting the before pics. I kind of hate to see you take 8/4 stock all the way down the 7/8. I would suggest taking it down to 6/4 because I think the look of a thicker top is more appealing. Just my .02 cents. Good luck and keep the pictures coming! James I think you missed that he is resawing the 8/4 first then planing down to 7/8. Depending on the board, that may be hard to get from an 8/4 board, as the BS will take about 1/32 of each side if resawn dead center. Resawing often somewhat cups a board, due to the higher interior moisture content. Then resurfacing. But, for the dimensions of the table, I do think the 7/8 top will look good. Good luck. It'll be nice to see the completed project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sholtobros Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Depending on the board, that may be hard to get from an 8/4 board, as the BS will take about 1/32 of each side if resawn dead center. Resawing often somewhat cups a board, due to the higher interior moisture content. Then resurfacing. Your comments add more validity to my concern about getting 2 finished 7/8 pieces from the 8/4. It seemed like a good idea looking at the 10" wide rough piece but as I progressed the 'extra' thickness is going away pretty fast. Originally the 8/4 was just for the legs but it looked so nice it seemed a waste to only use that board for legs. The remaining part of the top will be made from 2 different 4/4+ pieces that have milled down nice and flat while maintaining 15/16 of thickness. I'm seriously considering just buying 2 more 4/4 boards and saving the 8/4 for legs of a future project. Resawing and working with all rough lumber is still fairly new for me. -Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Bennett Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Your comments add more validity to my concern about getting 2 finished 7/8 pieces from the 8/4. It seemed like a good idea looking at the 10" wide rough piece but as I progressed the 'extra' thickness is going away pretty fast. Originally the 8/4 was just for the legs but it looked so nice it seemed a waste to only use that board for legs. The remaining part of the top will be made from 2 different 4/4+ pieces that have milled down nice and flat while maintaining 15/16 of thickness. I'm seriously considering just buying 2 more 4/4 boards and saving the 8/4 for legs of a future project. Resawing and working with all rough lumber is still fairly new for me. -Scott Welcome to the family. If you can afford it buy extra boards. You will not regret it. Re-sawing and thicknessing almost always throws up something unless you are very sure of your stock, it's EMC and its stability. This is always an area of calculated guesses. I've had three and four inch Oak here that I've had for years, flat as the proverbial, straight as an arrow. But, as it passes through the re-saw it either twists or thinks its a banana. Sometimes however, its beautiful!! but, that's the bonus. Good luck with the project let us know how you get on. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I think you missed that he is resawing the 8/4 first then planing down to 7/8. Depending on the board, that may be hard to get from an 8/4 board, as the BS will take about 1/32 of each side if resawn dead center. Resawing often somewhat cups a board, due to the higher interior moisture content. Then resurfacing. But, for the dimensions of the table, I do think the 7/8 top will look good. Good luck. It'll be nice to see the completed project. Vic, You are right I did miss that he was resawing the 8/4, I thought he was just going to plane it down to 7/8. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sholtobros Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 It's been quite some time since I started this post so it's about time I update the current progress. As always there's many long pauses in my projects but across a few productive weekends it's beginning to look more like table parts. The legs and rails are ready to assemble and the boards for the top just need to be ripped to width. The table saw I use lives 30 minutes away and hopefully I have a chance to drive out in the next few days. The lack of quick access to the table saw (and jointer) has lead me to do more work by hand. Overall this has made me more interested in hand tool work and given me the opportunity to practice. The discussion above about not being able to get a full 7/8 finished thickness from resawing 8/4 made me decide to just purchase more 4/4. A #5 plane was used to flatten 1 surface in preparation for running through the lunch box planer. Repetition has a way of revealing the subtleties of how something works. Starting with a rough edge I jointed with a #7 plane to create a straight edge, lots more opportunities to learn through repetition. Speed improved with each board and now I'm just slow instead of painfully slow. By no means is this the first time I've used a hand plane but preparing a board by hand is very educational. Because there's so much to remove I could experiment with different techniques and not be too concerned about ruining a nearly finished piece. This was more of a concern when I smoothed the legs after cutting the taper on a band saw. That operation was planned for the table saw but it wasn't practical to use the weekend I wanted to do the work. It also helps the hand tools are quieter since the baby's crib is above my workbench and my shop time frequently coincides with his nap time. The images are from a few weeks ago and just show the mortise and tenon between the leg and rail. Also you can see top 'buttons' which I cut using a handsaw but not before spending a 'few' hours sharpening (cross cut) a new looking back saw that was rarely used through the years because is was so dull from the factory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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